Wormrose, A Goblin's Tale.

Wormrose, A Goblin's tale, Chapter 2: Gobo Haven

  Gobo Haven was a very small village of Goblins. There were just a few families and they were related in one way or the other by blood or by marriage, so everyone was someone’s cousin. Worm’s family cottage was built from a large toadstool in the centre of the village. It was the first house to be built in Gobo Haven and was called Goblin Manor. It was once the home of her great grandfather Goblin Mooze, who had moved there after being retired from the Gold Mines. He had managed to collect quite a lot of gold dust and saved all of it to build the family home. He had had six children who in turn had built their own cottages and dwellings around the main home on the plot of land. Grandfather Mooze had divided up the land equally so each child would have a plot of land, with his eldest son inheriting the Manor. That eldest son was Worm’s father Daka. Worm’s uncles and aunts had built satellite huts surrounding Goblin Manor at its centre.

On the left of Goblin Manor lived Worm’s uncle Gote. He lived with his wife and two kids. They were both girls a couple years younger than Worm, and very stuck up, and pompous. They acted like they were the “prettiest toads in the pond” and were always prancing around their front yard half-dressed, trying to get the attention of the goblin boys in the village.

Worm’s mother hated Gote, as he tried to steal Goblin Manor out from under them when Grandfather Mooze died. Mooze or “Iron-guts” as his drinking friends called him was a well-known boozer and when he wasn’t working down in the Mines, he was always in the tavern. It was known that he would drink anything, and the goblin men would make bets on “What will Mooze drink next”.  It was his life’s passion to drink, and he literally drank himself to death. He had collapsed in the road after a binge of badly-fermented Moonshine, and got ran over by a rat-drawn cart, while crossing the road. Gote was the first one on the scene, and he claimed that Mooze had whispered to him with his dying breath, that he should have Goblin Manor, as he was his “favourite son”.

He had tried to lay claim to the family house and it had even gone to tribunal before the Goblin Elders. As there was no a witness or evidence, the case was dismissed, Worm’s parents retained the deed to Goblin Manor. After that, Worm’s father and brother’s erected a  twelve-inch wall, so that they never would have to see “Gote and he thiefin’ self”again. Although Worm was never close to Gote’s kids, it was very sad when she had to stop speaking to them. When they were younger, they use to play with each other. Worm was forbidden to speak to any of them ever again and so began the family feud.

On the right of Goblin Manor lived her uncle Long Tim whom Worm had nicknamed “Long time” simply because she hadn’t seen him in a long time- not since the start of the family feud began. He lived with his wife and six children, in a broken down mole-hill that they had reinforced and patched up with twigs. Worm’s family did not speak to them either, as uncle Long Tim had sided with uncle Gote at the tribunal as to who should have ownership of Goblin Manor. As a result of this, Goblin -mother stopped talking to them, and put up another wall, so as to not have to see them as well. The wall however was not that high( only six inches) so occasionally you would catch a glimpse of them passing by, when they went to use the outhouse. They seldom made eye contact, and if they did, it was only to glare at you and mumble curses under their breaths.

Next to Uncle Long Tim lived Tanty Batrice, whom Worm’s mother had nicknamed “The- old- bat” which then became simply “Bat”. Tanty Batrice was Worm’s oldest aunt, and she actually looked like a “bat”. Although she was just two years younger than Worm’s father Daka, she looked older and her brackish-green skin was wrinkled and leathery. She had large ears and a hooked nose, and her flabby, sagging arms looked like bat wings.

She lived with her husband Spike, who was known to everyone in the village as “Red-Bottom” as he always wore red pants. This was not unusual, as he was a Foreman in the Mines, and it was part of his uniform. No one really liked him as a foreman, as he was a brutal task master and fully abused his power. It was known that he pilfered gold flakes, and made the miners work twice as hard and longer shifts to cover the theft. No one ever had the guts to report him though, as his family was connected to the Goblin Mafia by marriage. His younger sister was wed to an infamous thug who went by the name “ Midnight” as his skin was a very dark green, almost black, which made him an excellent hit man, since he blended in well in the shadows.